Baby of Mine
by DumberAs
Summary: My name is Cheryal Boggs and I am the mother of Randall Boggs. What most people don't know is that Randall is not my biological child, but it doesn't mean he isn't my baby. This is my story and how we became a family, and the memories that we have created and it shows that even family doesn't mean we had to be blood.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Connected

 **Cheryal's POV**

You all may know me as Dr. Cheryal Boggs, PhD in surgical emergencies and medicine. I am the best surgeon in Monstropolis. I've known to save countless lives, make the impossible possible and to my family, the most hardworking mom I can be. But there is one thing that most people can't believe, or some do, is that I am Randall Bogg's mother. Well some can see it because we have the same color skin, we wear glasses and Randall has picked up several traits from me, especially my short temper. But despite that we are mother and son, I am not his actual mother. No, me and my partner adopted him. But what most people don't know, is that before we adopted Randall we had a special connection to him. And this is that story…

The year was 1975 in the cold month of November. I was busy filling out my paperwork as I heard a commotion coming from the entrance of the hospital. I looked up to see a reoccurring attendant. It was Sylvia VonFang. Sylvia was a blue chameleon reptile with a short crown and brown eyes. Her body was leaning against her husband, Fredrick VonFang. Fredrick was a purple reptile with four long fronds, two arms with claws on his three fingers and a snake like body. I fought back a moan when I saw them come in.

"What? What is it Cheryal?" Tamera asked.

Tamera is a nurse that works alongside me. She was a tall lean lime-green monster with three eyes, a triangular shaped body with long arms and legs. I didn't turn to look at her, my eyes on the two reptilian monsters.

"It's Sylvia and Fredrick again."

"Oh great," she moaned. "I thought last time we had gotten rid of them."

"Apparently not. Let's just make the best of this and hope they haven't brought drugs on them, again." I forced a smile when I saw the two reptiles come over. "Sylvia, Fredrick, so good to see you again. How can we help you?"

"We're having an egg, so we came in for a doctor appointment."

"Oh well, congratulations. Just take a seat and the doctor will be with you shortly."

As the reptiles took their seats, I went back to filling out my paperwork. I kept a wary eye on them to make sure they didn't do anything disruptive and stupid. I didn't have to wait long because their doctor came out. As they went back, me and Tamera started chatting. Our conversation however, took a turn towards Sylvia and Fredrick.

"I can't believe those two are having an egg." Tamera exclaimed.

"I know, but we can't do anything about it."

"Those two shouldn't even be parents. Have you heard the way they act to children?"

I blinked at her. I've heard of what others had claim about their harsh words to the children but… could they really hate all children? There was a file of them having another child about four years ago, but I didn't really pay much attention to the details.

"I have but… surely they're not that bad."

"Oh they are. The child was taken away from them. And I'm glad they did. That poor boy."

I shrugged. If they had a child taken away, then that was their personal business. Yet for some reason, I was started feeling very nervous for the young Egg. After all they were not the people I would want for parents. And who knows what they would do the child. They were drug addicts. They could've cause huge problems in the future for it. The Egg had air holes. And if the environment was not safe for the Egg, it could have serious health problems in the future. Smoke could get into the air holes and cause asthma for the baby. Or give it a nicotine addiction. What if they got high or drunk one night and end up smashing the egg?

"Um…Tamera, I'm going to go check on a few patients, I'll be right back."

She nodded as I made my way through the hallways, looking for Sylvia and Fredrick. I searched each door looking for them when I finally spotted them. I couldn't' hear what was being said but I could get the since that it wasn't something that the two reptiles liked. I bit my lip. They didn't look pleased. What was I saying? They were never happy with anything unless it didn't involve drugs. The poor egg. I quickly moved when I noticed they were getting up to leave. I took cover in a patient's room. I looked to see if anyone was in there. No one. Perfect.

"Come again in three weeks and we'll take a look at the egg."

"Fine…whatever." I heard Fredrick sneer.

Fine? Whatever? That was his child he was talking about! Do these people have no heart? For crying out loud! If I wasn't hiding I would come out and slap the man! What nerve does he have to have such a crude to a child that isn't even here yet? It took all my strength to stay hidden. When I heard they were gone, I stepped out. I growled. They did not to have children!

After work, I drove back home. I live on 254 North Sludge St. It's a nice neighbor, good for raising children. I lived in a two story white house with a red roof, with my partner, Emilia, a ten foot tall brown furred monster. We've been together since our sophomore year in college. We bought the house five years ago and we currently renovating one of the rooms. As I pulled in, I noticed that Emilia had planted hydra bushes on both sides of the front door. I gave in irritated sigh. Emilia is always doing things like this when it comes to her plants. Emilia is a florist. But unlike most florists, her sense of smell is messed up. Instead of liking flowers like deadly nightshades or Venus flytraps, she likes honeysuckles. I parked the car and went inside.

"Emilia!"

"In the kitchen!" she replied.

I walked in to see her cooking. I went up by her side.

"How was your day?"

"Irritating."

"What happened?"

"That no good Fredrick VonFang! Urg! He and his wife came in today because and they didn't even show that they care about their egg that they're expecting!"

Emilia turned her full attention to me. Her blue eyes filled with worry for me. I snorted. Her worrying wasn't going to calm me down. I started pacing and ranting.

"They should be happy! I mean, here we are setting up the house to adopt a baby, and we're struggling to have the orphanage approve and they got free chance!"

Emilia placed a hand on my shoulder. I huffed.

"We'll get a child Cheryal. I know we will."

"I know… but… I just feel like… their egg is going to mean something to us. Like… we were meant to be connected to it."

"Maybe,"

I sighed, my irritation not fully desolved.

"I'm going to work on the nursery."

"Alright! I'll be up to call you for dinner."

I grunted, going upstairs. I didn't know it all the time, but for some reason, my intentions were right.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: First Meetings

Three months later after learning that Fredrick and Sylvia was having an egg, I had been keeping my eyes on them. I didn't trust them having that poor baby. So when they came in for the Egg's monthly inspection, I followed. From what I could see, the Egg didn't look good. It was looking yellow instead of the white it was supposed to be. I could tell they weren't taking care of it. Typical. Probably more concern about their drugs than their soon to be child. So while they were in the examination room, I watched out in the hallway. It wasn't until then, when I heard their doctor's panicking voice.

"We need to get the baby out now! They're coming out too early!"

Without thinking, I went into the room, seeing if I could help in anyway. I swallowed my nervousness as I went over.

"Anything I can help with?"

"Stay on stand by if the infant needs any immediate surgery."

I nodded as I watched. I wanted to help. I didn't want to be put on a stand by, but I wasn't trained in this field. I was a surgeon, not a pediatric doctor. I watched as Tom, Dr. Pithoud to the patients, motioned for Flora and Nora, a two headed nurse to help him. Tom Pithoud was a yellow furred monster with orange spikes on his head and horn on his nose. Flora and Nora, our two headed pediatric nurse was a light cream colored skin with small wings, and four arms. Their red hairs were styled differently. Fora's had hers in a pony tail and Nora's had her's in a bun.

Flora and Nora pulled out what looked like a stone chipper, but a lot smaller. Nora held it in her top left hand as Flora, using the top right hand, gently tapped the chipper as they tried to open the egg. I bit my lip in anticipation. Was the baby going to live? It was too early for it to come out. Would it have a birth defect? What would Sylvia and and Fedrick keep the baby? Or put it up for adoption?

"Easy Flora and Nora," Tom advised as they continued to chip at the egg.

Once the egg was chipped open more, they finally pulled out the premature infant. The infant was covered in a yellow egg sack. Carefully Tom clipped off the egg sack and gently started washing off the infant. I stared at the child in his claws. It was a small purple reptile, very pale, more like a sickly lilac purple, with three beautiful fronds with a pale pink, four arms and legs with three gecko padded fingers and toes on each and a pale blue tail. I couldn't take my eyes off of the infant. They were so beautiful.

"It's a boy!"

I watched as Tom handed the child to Flora and Nora and put them in an incubation chamber, after putting a diaper on the tiny reptile. I wanted nothing more than to be glued to his side. I looked at Sylvia and Fredrick, who wasn't even paying attention to the child, but sneering at how they were having their time being wasted here. I held back my tongue. I wanted nothing more than to snap at them for being so insensitve to their hatchling. I went over to Tom as he looked over the child.

"Will he be alright?"

"I don't think so. A few more tests first and I'll let you know."

I nodded. I really didn't want to leave his side. I wanted to sit next to the incubator til he was released. I wanted to be able to hold one of his tiny little hands and coo sweet words. I wanted to hold him, to love him, to cherish him.

"So what do you want to name your son?" Flora asked Sylvia and Fedrick.

Sylvia and Fedrick looked at the child with disinterest. I stood there, praying they picked a decent name for the little angel.

"Do we have to?" Sylvia sighed.

I started to feel my blood boil. I took a breath. I could not blow up on them, as much as I wanted to, but I wanted to keep my job. I looked at the child. He looked like a Randall to me.

"What about Randall?" I suggested, since I knew they were going to pick a horrid name for the child.

"Might as well," Fedrick grunted.

I let out a relief sigh to myself. Randall was a sweet a little infant. As I looked over Sylvia and Fedrick looked more like they wanted to leave than to check their newborn child. I huffed to myself, seeing that they were starting to walk off. I gritted my teeth to keep from snapping at them. I went over to the chi- no, to Randall. The child _I_ named. The child that I couldn't help but instantly fall in love at first sight. I put my tentacle in the slot to hold his top right hand. It felt so tiny in my tentacle. I couldn't help but feel such love for the little one, even though he wasn't mine. But I wanted him to be. I wanted to raise this child. I wanted to see him to say his first word, his first steps, his first everything.

I wanted to hold this child when he got hurt. To wipe his tears when he was upset. To teach him new things. To help him on his journey as he traveled into adulthood. I could imagine seeing him as a full adult, purple scales rich in color as he reached perfect health. I could see him bonding with me and Emilia as he grew up. Birthdays, holidays, family reunions, I wanted him to be apart of our family. He was a Boggs. I knew he was. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach.

I felt my heart melt when he opened his eyes for the first time. He had the most beautiful emerald green eyes. They were so large, it was almost you could see what emotions he was expressing, just by looking into them. I had never seen such expressive eyes before. It was like I could see into his very soul. Which, of course, it wasn't much considering he was only a few minutes old. And then... he smiled at me, giving out a tiny squeal of happiness seeing my face. I was sold. I wanted this child. He was so precious and special. I knew it.

"Dr. Boggs, you can go now, we can take care of things here."

I blinked as Tom jerked me out of my thoughts.

"What?"

"You can go."

Go? I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay with Randall. I didn't want to leave his side. I wanted to take him home. To love him.

"You can visit him later. But I believe your other patients require your service."

I gave a small smile as I realized he wasn't trying to tear me away from Randall, just wanted me to get back to my other job. He gave an encouraging nod. I nodded. I kissed my tentacle and placed it on top of his forehead.

"I'll be back soon, darling." I walked out.

After work, I stopped by to check in on Randall. He was currently sleeping. I smiled fondly as I stroke his fronds. I really wanted to take him home, but from what I recalled premature hatched reptiles, were going to devolped health problems. My heart went out to the little reptile.

"I'll see you tomorrow Randy. First thing."

When I arrived home, I was completely over the moon. I prayed that Sylvia and Fedrick would give Randall up for adoption. I wanted to adopt him. I wanted him to be mine and Emilia's son. He was destined to be our son.

"Emilia, I home!" I called as I walked in.

Emilia was sitting in her chair, watching the news. Seeing me, she stood up and went over to me. She kissed me.

"How was your day?"

"It didn't start out so well, but it ended up amazing! A little reptile was born. And Emilia, he was beautiful! His scales were like lavish lilac, his tail a beautiful blue and his eyes! They were this deep shade of pure emerald! Oh Emilia you should've been there! He was the sweetest little thing! And I got to name him because, Sylvia and Fedrick were so heartless, they didn't even want to name him! Which is just infuriating that they don't even care, but I got to name him! I named him Randall, and Emilia, I know he's the one for us to adopt! I know it! He's a Boggs! I know he is!"

Emilia seemed happy, up until the end.

"Um... Cheryal."

"Oh I can just see him in the family Emilia!"

"Cheryal!"

I blinked and looked at her.

"Cheryal, I know you're excited, but what if Sylvia and Fedrick, don't decide to give him for adoption? What then?"

I scoffed, waving it off. Of course they would give him up! Why shouldn't they? They were horrible parents! I knew me and Emilia would be the best for raising him!

"Of course they would! Emilia, they don't care about him! I do! We would be excellent parents for him! You would fall in love with him, like I did!"

She sighed.

"I probably would, and you know that. But we can't just assume they would. Cheryal, I promise, if they do put him up for adoption, then we will adopt him, but right now, it's too early. Besides, we still have a lot of work for the nursery."

I huffed. I didn't really want to wait for him. But of course I didn't have a choice. I relunctantly nodded.

"Fine. I'll wait."

She smiled and kissed me. I gave a small smile. I couldn't argue with her logic, and she was only doing it to protect me. She walked into the kitchen. At least I knew she on board of adopting Randall once his parents put him up for adoption. But at least I was pleased that she was supporting. I couldn't wait for him to become a part of our family.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After Randall was born I stopped by every day to check on him. I learned that due to his parents' drug usage, he had developed health problems, along with being hatched prematurely. He had developed epilepsy, a result from his parents' drugs effecting him while he was developing in his egg. His immune system was weak, weaker than most premature reptiles. I was standing next to his incubator as Tom was looking him over.

"Will he get better?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"He'll live, but his immune system is very underdeveloped. With proper medical monitoring, eating properly, kept warm, and loved, he should get through his infant years with little to no trouble."

I smiled at the sleeping infant. It was such a relief to hear some good news. I placed a tentacle on the chamber.

"At this rate, in a month or two, the VonFangs can take him home."

My smile instantly fell. The VonFangs? Take him home? Absolutely not! I refused to let that happen! They already practically tried to kill their newborn! And most of all they haven't been around since he was born! I was the one visiting him! I was the one staying by his side! I was more of a parent to him than they were!

"You're not implying that he should go home with those…those… monsters!" I exclaimed.

"Cheryal, you and I both know if I could, I would give this child to you, but it's not for me to decide his fate. It's his parents. If they give him up for adoption, he's all yours."

I watched as he walked out. If they decided to give him up for adoption? I smirked. An instant idea came to me. If I could convince them how horrible raising a child was, they could put him up for adoption! Oh this was perfect! He would be safe and Emilia and I would be finally parents! It's a win-win! Oh I couldn't wait! I kissed the side of the incubator.

"I'll see you tomorrow my sweet."

After work I was practically ecstatic. If my plan worked that little bundle was going to be my child. I couldn't wait to tell Emilia.

"Emilia! Emilia!" I called out, excited to tell her my plan.

She walked out a short time later, her gardening gloves and hat on. She blinked as she looked at me, as I ran over to her.

"Emilia! I have the greatest idea!"

"Really? What is it? Is it for the nursey?"

"It sure is!"

"What about it?" She asked, eager to hear it.

"I know just how to get us a baby! I'm going to convince Sylvia and Fredrick to give him up!"

Her smile quickly vanished.

"Cheryal! You can't do that!"

"Why not? They don't care about him! But we do!"

"It's not for us to tell them what they can do! I don't like it as much as you, but our claws are tied."

I scowled. This was not how I expected it to turn out. I thought she would agree with me! We wanted a child, and this could be our way to get him! He deserved better than the VonFangs! He deserved us and we deserved him! I wasn't going to let him slip out of my grasp that easy.

"Please promise me, you won't do anything." She asked.

I huffed.

"Cheryal…" she begged.

"No promises."

"Fine… I guess that'll have to do…" she sighed walking off.

I grinned. This was going to be perfect!

* * *

I was sitting with Randall when I saw Sylvia and Fredrick. Two months and they finally decide to come see their son. I bite back my tongue to keep from snapping at them. I forced myself to smile at them.

"Hello Sylvia and Fredrick, came to see Randall."

"We came to take him home." Fredrick replied.

Sylvia went over and grabbed him out of my tentacles. I blinked in shock.

"But he hasn't been cleared to leave yet!"

"He is now, we got the call. Let's go Sylvia."

Before I could say anything they walked out. I went after them, trying to come up with some way to get them to put him for adoption, but they only ignored me. I watched in terror as they walked out. What was I going to do? I couldn't let them walked out with him! I felt my world start to shatter around me. What was I going to do now?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Several months had passed since Randall was taken home and… I was freaking out! What was happening to him? Was he safe? Was he getting enough food? Did he have a proper crib? They hadn't come to the hospital for his standard checkups. I moaned to myself as I watched Emilia talked to our friend Samantha. Samantha was a pink reptile snake like-monster with a three sets of arms, brown eyes, and blue spike like hair. She was taking us once again through the tour of the orphanage to see if we were interested in any of the other children, but I wasn't. I wanted Randall. Emilia tried to get me more occupied on other situations and tried to easy my worrying over him, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. I looked at the many children running around.

"I think that it's great that you two decided to adopt a child. So many children need good homes. If I didn't work here, I would adopt all of these little cuties in a heartbeat!"

A crash and a scream was heard.

"Brandon! Stop teasing Willow!" She scolded pulling a slug boy away from a green skinned little girl.

She turned back towards us.

"Sorry about that. It can get a little hectic around here."

"We know," Emilia smiled at her, "And we can't wait to see how our little monster will be in our house. We've been working really hard on our nursery and we just can't wait to have a baby finally living with us! Isn't that right Cheryal?"

"Yes, it is correct." I replied, not really engaged in the conversation, but I had nothing else to do, since Emilia refused to let me go and track down the VonFangs so I could check in on Randall and see how well they were taking care of him.

"Many adopting couples want to adopt babies, which I don't blame them, they're just the cutest little things. But most of the older ones don't get adopted out, which is the shame. Is there any chance that you could convince some of your other friends to help them out?"

"Oh, yes! Tim and Jerry were looking to adopt an older child! I bet they would be happy to!"

I nodded in agreement.

"Do you happen to have any, reptilian children that need to be adopted?" I asked.

Emilia glared at me, knowing what I was doing, while Samantha grabbed her chin, her other sets of arms, crossing as she thought.

"No, so far I'm the only reptile here. Most reptilian monsters like to keep their children, but I'll keep a look out if one is transferred or placed here."

"Oh…thank you." I replied, not happy to learn that Randall wasn't here.

It's been nearly a year and a half. Randall spent six months in the hospital after he was born, and now it's been another nine months and I still had no idea to what was happening to him! It was like my family and my job was plotting to keep me from seeing how he was doing. I needed to know if he was okay! Emilia grabbed my tentacle.

"Samantha, I need to talk to Cheryal alone for a bit."

"Oh take your time! And please look around and get to know the other children!" She waved and slither off to leave us alone.

"What?" I snapped once she was out of ear shot.

"You know what! Cheryal, I know you want the VonFangs' child, but you are becoming obsessed with him!"

"I am not obsessed! I am concerned about a well-being of a child! And if we get to adopt him in the process is a score in my book."

She groaned.

"Cheryal."

"Well it's the truth! They are drug addicts and they don't deserve to have a child as wonderful as Randall! You know, Rhoul has connections everywhere, if I could ask him to find their house, I'm sure…"

"Cheryal Evelyn Boggs! Don't you dare think what I think you're thinking!"

"Why not? It's not like anyone would ever know!"

"I would know, and what type of monsters would that make us if we sneak around and take a couple's child away from them like that? It's deceitful, sneaky, dishonest, and downright illegal! I don't want to go to jail! And I don't want to be held responsible if Rhoul was thrown into jail, again!"

"He'd get thrown into jail, no matter what! He just got out last week!"

"Exactly! We are doing this the lawful way. And I don't want to hear another word of you traveling to their house."

"But-"

"No. End of discussion Cheryal. I told you years ago, that if he gets put up for adoption, we will adopt him, but he's not up for adoption, so we can't!"

"They could be hurting him!"

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. I knew she was getting frustrated with me, but I couldn't help it. I was really worried about him. I wanted him to be safe.

"And if they are, then someone will stop them."

"But what if someone isn't? I just want him to be with us so badly!" I frowned, tears coming.

Emilia placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I know you do. And I'll make sure that one day he will. But right now isn't the time. Just be patient."

I groaned.

"Why do you always have to be right?"

"Because even your logic can get lost when you get passionate about something."

"I can't help it."

"I know. Now let's go find Samantha, and finish up this tour. I know we'll get Randall one day, but today isn't that day."

I nodded in agreement. She was right, I just had to be patient and wait for him, no matter how much it was killing me. I followed her as we went back to look for Samantha. I just hoped that he would turn up soon, so that we could finally adopted him and take care of him.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Several months later, I woke up to Emilia leaning over me. I yelped in shock, starting to move back. Since I was so close to the headboard, I ended up hitting it. I groaned in pain and glared at her. There are times that I hate it when she does this. She still had that stupid grin on her face. I was itching just to slap it off.

"What is so important that you…" I moved over to grab my glasses to check the time, "Had to wake me up at 6 'o clock in the morning? I don't work today."

"I know. I have a special surprise for you."

"What is it?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?"

I rolled my eyes as she finally got off of me. I went straight to our private bathroom and got myself ready for the day. Teeth brushed, face washed, lipstick applied and my glasses wiped clean of any excess dust. I was ready for the day. Now I can go see what this "surprise" was. I went into the kitchen to see breakfast already made for me. Okay… now I was suspicious. Emilia is not exactly the greatest cook. She sometimes mixes improper ingredients when it comes to cooking. I cautiously poked the rotten scrambled eggs and moldy French toast on my plate.

"You cooked breakfast."

"Oh yes. Because today is a very special day and I wanted to treat you."

"…Are you sure you aren't trying to poison me?"

"Oh relax Boggs, you're so uptight." She teased, a smirk on her lips.

I playfully glared at her. She used to call me by my last name all the time in college when we used to be rivals. Never thought I ended up spending the rest of my life with her and now I couldn't imagine my life without her. I slowly raised the fork with some eggs on it to my mouth, praying that this didn't kill me. One bite and I was surprised to see that it was actually edible this time. Maybe she's finally being more aware of what she's putting in. Thank glob.

"So what's this surprise?" I asked.

"Not telling. But we'll go in a few hours to see it. First we're spending the day together."

"Why?"

"Don't you know what today is?"

"Today?" I looked towards the calendar. "It's Tuesday."

She chuckled.

"I can't believe you forgot."

"Forgot what?"

"Today's your birthday silly! It's July 18!"

"It is?" I blinked.

"Yes!"

"Then where are we heading?"

"You'll see, it's a scavenger hunt!"

I rolled my eyes. Oh goody. She handed me a piece of paper.

"Here is your first clue. The next clue will be in an envelope. I'll be at the second to last clue. You should get started."

I looked at my clue.

"This is the place where kids go to play, it's open all day, and people of all ages are welcome all the way."

I thought for a moment. Kids go to play, open all day, and every one of all ages are welcome… My eyes widen. I grabbed the car keys and made my way over to where the next clue was. I think I had a pretty good idea to where I was going next. After a few minutes of driving I arrived at the park. I went over to the playground area and sure enough, there was the envelope taped onto the side of a slide. I pulled it off and started to read the next clue.

"You were little you go here to know, different levels to grow, and your IQ can never get low."

I rubbed my chin as I thought. The elementary school! I got into my care once more and took off to the building. As I pulled in, I went up to the principal's office. As I went to go inside, the secretary smiled at me.

"Mrs. Boggs?"

"Dr. Boggs actually, but yes."

"I have something for you."

"Oh the next clue!" I grinned as she handed me the envelope. Opening it, I read the next clue. "To find your next clue you must think back to where your beginnings began. You were born, you mourn and you learn everything here… born, mourn and learn… the hospital! Thank you!"

When I finally arrived at the hospital I went up to Tamera.

"Tamera!"

She looked up at me and smiled.

"Hey Cheryal! What are you doing here? This is your day off."

"I know. Emilia sent me on a birthday scavenger hunt. Do you happen to have me next clue?"

"Yes! She told me to direct you to the Nursery to find it."

"Thank you!"

I made my over to the nursery, careful to not wake the sleeping infants. I couldn't help but smile at them, they're all so adorable… I finally spotted the envelope on the side of one of the infants display beds. I pulled it off and made my way out to read it.

"You're almost done! Two more to go! This next clue takes you to items that aisle for all first parents' needs. Go to Ghoul-mart and your final clue will be on you'll be in the lead! Then Ghoul-mart I shall go."

When I walked into the store I made my way over to the infant aisle, where I found Emilia waiting for me, with the final clue in her claws.

"Hi Cheryal! Here is your final clue." She opened the envelope. "Your surprise is to the place that children with nowhere to go ends at, and once we get there, you will attack."

"Children with nowhere to go…" I blinked. "The orphanage!"

"That's right! Your surprise is at the Orphange. Let's go!"

I gripped the steering wheel nervously as I made my way over. Emilia was sitting next to me, having walked to Ghoul-Mart so we could ride in the car together when we arrived at the Orphanage. I didn't know what this surprise was, but if I was bound to "attack" as she said in her clue, I hope it didn't mean I would attack her in anger. I have been known to do that from time to time when someone ended up insulting me. As we walked in, Samantha greeted us.

"Happy Birthday Cheryal! Your birthday surprise is in this room!"

I looked at Emilia suspiciously as she did a double thumbs up to me. This better not be something I was going to hate, or she was going to seriously regret it. As we walked into the room, my heart basically stopped. There in the room, was the child I had been looking for so long.

Randall.

He was so tiny. He was sitting in a highchair wearing a white sailor suit onesie with a blue ascot around his neck and baby blue booties on his feet. He looked adorable! But… he looked so thin and sickly.

"Is that him?" I asked, going over to him, a large smile on my face.

I couldn't believe it. He was here. He was here! We could finally adopt him! What I always wanted! After two years and four months my Randall was here! I wanted to pick him up and hug him so badly. Never again to leave my sight.

"Just like I promised you Cheryal. This is Randall. He came in a few months ago after his parents were arrested. You will not believe the charges they had on them. I'm sad to say that he's so undernourished. I've tried my best to get him up to even half his standard weight, but my attempts have been futile."

Poor baby, I knew they were doing horrible things. They didn't even bother to feed him! No wonder he was so thin! I gently caressed his cheek. He didn't deserve to be starved. He was so thin and his eyes had bags under them and looked practically sunken in. He basically looked like a tiny skeleton!

"Oh you poor thing…" I cooed softly. I flashed an "I-told-you-so" look, half glare at her. "Emilia come over and meet him. Isn't he just the precious child you've ever seen?"

"He sure is," Emilia smiled as she went up to my side. "So what happened to his parents."

"Oh it was the worst thing! When the health department was called on his parents, they found him curled up in a ball near death! When child services got a hold of him, they arrested his parents and took him to the hospital to get checked out. Apparently they have been beating him, attempted to drown him, fed him bleach, sold him for drugs and to be sexually assaulted… it's just disgusting! He's so tiny and fragile, if he doesn't get a good home, I don't think he could make it in a few years I'm afraid-."

"We'll take him." I interrupted, not even letting Emilia have a chance to discuss with me.

He was coming home with us no matter what. I knew my gut was telling me that I needed to get to him. He had suffered and I couldn't get to him! Well no more! He was never going to get hurt again on my watch!

"Wonderful! I'll get the paperwork!"

As she left the room, I instantly went over to Randall. Emilia smiled at him.

"You're going to love living with us Randall. We're going to make sure you're always be loved and safe, no matter what."

He looked at us curiously. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed him in my arms.

"Oh my poor little Randy." As I started to pick him up, he started crying. I bounced him gently as I held him in my arms. "Shh, it's okay. It's okay I got you. No one's going to hurt you ever again. No, no. Not as long as Mommy and Mama's going to take care of you."

I shushed him gently, gently holding his top right hand and lightly rubbing his palm.

"Do you like my surprise?" Emilia asked.

I smiled at Randall. I had him. I had my baby.

"No. I don't like it. I love it."

"I knew you would."

I smacked her stomach.

"Don't get smug on me. I don't need you to get conceited again like the rest of the Scarers."

She held up her hand with two fingers up.

"Hey, I give you a Monster Scout's honor that I had turned away from my Scaring roots. Now let's sign those papers and get this little guy to his new home."

I nodded in agreement. I had to admit that this was the greatest birthday present ever. Best birthday ever.


	6. Chapter 6

**Baby Mine is sung by Bette Midler and from the movie** _ **Dumbo**_ **by Walt Disney. If anyone wants to see what part of Randall's room or what his parents look like, go to my account on Deviantart. It's under the same name. The family photo of Randall, Emilia and Cheryal is sideway. Stupid phone… I will post pictures of the designs of Randall's nursery up soon. As well as other characters, like Cheyenne and her family, Fungus's and the rest of Randall's family. So keep an eye open for those!**

* * *

Chapter 6

I couldn't be happier than I was today. I looked in the review mirror to see Randall in his car seat. It was currently in facing the backseat, that way he would be protected if we were ever in an accident. He looked so cute. He had fallen asleep. Good thing. He's been so jittery and nervous. At least now he can relax.

"I can't believe we got a child." I mused happily.

"I know. After three years and we finally adopted one. Especially the one that you went completely psychotic about it. Now I don't have to worry about you wanting to trespass on the VonFang's property anymore."

"Yes. I guess so. We saved him. I can't believe you knew about him. How did you find out?"

"Samantha called me while you were at work one day. I made the appointment on your birthday, as a special gift."

"I love it. Thank you. He's the greatest gift. We can finally show him what a family is supposed to be like."

"Samantha said it could take him a while to get used to people. He's been through so much that he's terrified of people."

"Over time he'll get use to people. Let's just get him settle into the house first."

"Sounds like a plan." Emilia agreed as we pulled into the driveway of our house.

I got out of the car and unbuckled Randall from his car seat, accidently waking him. He looked at me sleepily as I pulled him out. Emilia opened the trunk and started grabbing his things, which wasn't much. It was only a box filled with a few articles of clothing.

"Welcome to your new home, Randy." I grinned at him.

He looked at the house, probably taking in the new surroundings. Emilia and I smiled at him. He started to whimper. I gently rubbed his back.

"It's alright, you're safe here." I told him softly.

Apparently the new surroundings must have been too much for him because he started crying. I gently bounced him, hoping that it would calm him down.

"Poor baby," Emilia frowned worriedly.

"It'll take some time for him to get used to this."

She nodded.

"I'll bring in his things. Why don't you go inside and feed him?"

I nodded in agreement and took him inside as Emilia brought in his things. I went into the kitchen, preparing the bottle of baby formula. We had taken Randall to the hospital after we signed the adoption papers. We learned that due to what his parents had done to him. We had to get special dietary items for him and crucial instructions to bring him back for some surgeries. Dr. Grove, our assigned family doctor, told us that due to the bleach, his vocal chords and stomach were damaged. We were told to feed him a specific type of baby formula until instructed otherwise. Since his vocal chords were burned by the bleach that he might not be able to speak again, but he could make sounds like squeals, cries and laugh.

I was crushed. Never would I hear about his days at school, or hear him interacting with kids his age, or even hear the words "I love you, mommy." All that was stripped away from him. I pulled the bottle of warm milk out of the pot. A quick test to see if it was properly warm… it was. Perfect. I shushed him gently, but as I tried to feed him, he resisted it, pushing the bottle away.

"Come on Randy. You need to eat sweetie. It's okay baby. Shh. Calm down."

I managed to calm him down, but with him refusing to eat, it wasn't easy.

"Come on baby, please eat."

He whined, weakly pushing the bottle away. He was probably worried that there was something dangerous in the bottle. Wonderful. If Sylvia and Fredrick weren't already in jail, I would kill them.

"Maybe taking him a tour around the house will help." Emilia suggested as she walked in.

I nodded. That sounded like a good idea. I looked at him.

"Okay Randy, how about a tour?" I asked him. "Doesn't that sound fun?"

He whimpered again. I hoped Emilia was right about this. He's so scared. We took him into the living room. I had passed through it earlier to get to the kitchen.

"This here is the living room Randy. This is where we spend most of our time."

I showed him around, pointing and explaining the different pieces of furniture with Emilia's help. I smiled see that he was starting to relax. He glanced around the room with wide curious eyes. We walked back into the kitchen.

"This is the kitchen." I told him, pleased to see Emilia's plan working.

"This is where we make food and eat." Emilia told him. "And-"

She was interrupted with the living room door slamming shut. That could only mean one thing, my worst nightmare.

"Oh sweet and wonderful sister of mine! It's your favorite big brother!" A sickenly sweet male voice shouted.

All three of us jumped, unprepared from the shouting. The shouting, of course startled Randall.

"Urg… Rhoul," I growled, gently bouncing Randall to calm him down.

Rhoul was three years older than me. We looked practically identical, except he had yellow skin, brown eyes, no need for wearing glasses and he always wore a leather jacket. He was always in and hout of jail. How he gets out so quickly baffles me.

"Is that a baby's cry I hear?" he asked as he walked in.

I turned and glared at him.

"Yes and your stupidity and loudness scared him!"

"Not my fault," he shrugged.

"Actually, it is." Emilia pointed out.

"Shh, it's okay." I shushed the tiny reptile, trying to calm him down. "Oh…"

Emilia looked at Randall.

'Maybe a song will calm him down." She suggested.

"What song?" I asked.

I didn't really know any lullabies that could calm him down.

"Um… what about Baby Mine? From Glumbo? You've been humming that song for months!" She cleared her throat.

Let's get one thing straight here. Emilia cannot sing. She's horrible. She makes quats run screeching and dogs barking and howling in pain. I winced as she started to sing in a shrill off key voice.

"~ _Baby Mine…~_ " she started.

"Um, Emilia," I interrupted, stopping her. "I think I should sing. You… aren't the… greatest singer."

Rhoul snickered as Emilia shot a glare at him.

"Which is nothing bad!" I exclaimed, worried that she would be angry at me. "After all I'm no dancer."

She huffed. I couldn't deal with this right now. I gently started rocking Randall. Hopefully this would calm him down.

"Now…" I cleared my throat. "~ _Baby Mine_

 _Don't you cry_

 _Baby mine, dry your eyes_ ~"

He looked up at me, tears in his eyes. I gently wiped them away. He sniffed. I smiled lovingly at him. I gently positioned his head against my chest so he could hear my heart beat. Hopeful that the steady beating would sooth him.

"~ _Rest your head close to my heart_

 _Never to part_

 _Baby of mine_ ~"

I could feel him shaking against me. I rubbed his back as I held him close.

"~ _Little one, when you play_

 _Pay no heed what they say_.~"

I looked down at him to see his eyes sparkly and shine, the kitchen light reflection off those beautiful emerald green eyes. A tear fell and I wiped it away.

"~ _Let your eyes sparkle and shine_

 _Never a tear, baby of mine_ ~"

I smiled at him, seeing that he was watching me. I gently stroked his cheek, caressing it.

"~ _If they knew all about you_

 _They end up loving you too_

 _All those same people who scold you_

 _What they'd give just the right to hold you_ ~"

I stroked his fronds and gently moved my tentacle to grabbed a hold of his front left foot.

"~ _From you head down to your toes_

 _You're not much, goodness knows_ ~"

I held him close, gently placing a kiss on his forehead.

"~ _But you're so precious to me_

 _Sweet as can be, baby of mine~"_

I was glad to see that he had finally calmed down. I smiled gently at him.

"There we go," I cooed, propping him over my shoulder. I looked at Emilia. "I'm going to go lay him down for a nap."

"Emilia nodded.

"When did you two get a baby?" Rhoul asked, then gasped. "Did you get pregnant sis? Did you get a sperm donor?"

I glared at him.

"If I was pregnant or got a sperm donor, you would already know because you're always here!"

"Fair point."

I rolled my eyes. My brother is an idiot sometimes. I'm surprise how long he actually survived this long. I'm younger than him and I take more responsibility than he does! I glared at him.

"Don't act stupid." I started to leave the kitchen so I could head upstairs.

"Wait, you're going to leave me along with _her_?" Rhoul exclaimed, pointing at Emilia. "Shouldn't you give me some advice on how to handle her?"

"I did." I told him. "Don't act stupid."

Without another word I went upstairs. I hummed _Baby Mine_ as I brought Randall into the nursery, his room. The walls of the room were baby blue with ducks on them. On the far wall, next to the window was a white crib. A blue and yellow mobile hang from the crib with ducks hanging in the air. A changing table was the left with a pale blue bucket sitting next to it. To the crib's right was a rocking chair. A dresser was on the right wall with a blue and white lamp sitting on top of it. A music box shaped like a carousel with ducks and sheep sat next to the lamp. A stuffed lamb was sitting on the dresser. It's five eyes looking straight across the room and single horn curved straight to the ceiling.

The self above the dresser held figurines of baby boys dressed in blue. One was a stork, holding a baby in a swaddle in its beak. Its wings tucked in and standing on all three of its legs, it's small stripped horns prodding out the side of its head. The other shelf was hanging above the changing table. A duck shaped clock sat on top of it along with several figurines of cartoon ducks. A green and blue play rug was in the middle of the room, despite that the room was already carpeted. I gently laid Randall down in the crib and covered him up with a blue baby blanket with a duck on the far right corner. I smiled at him fondly as he slept. I slipped a green pacifier in his mouth.

Even thought he was at the age that was too old for pacifiers, we were instructed to have him use them so he could learn how to drink out of a bottle, since he was deprived of that. I shut the curtains so that sunlight wouldn't wake him. I made a note to go out shopping and get some proper clothes for him. Pajamas, sweaters, shirts, winter clothing… things he'll need. I flipped the baby monitor on. I kissed the tip of my tentacle and placed it on his forehead to transfer my kiss over to him.

"Sleep tight Randy. I love you."

I shut the door behind me. It was going to take some time for Randall to adjust to his new life with us, but at least that it was finally safe and he was at a place that he would be loved.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The moment we had gotten Randall, we spent most of our time in and out of the hospital. He had several surgeries on his stomach and apparently he had some broken bones that I discovered. After finally getting the okay to take him home after his last stomach surgery, I sat him in his green and yellow plaid blanket.

"Do you think he's going to be okay?" I asked Emilia.

"If he managed to survive all that abuse, I'm sure he'll be fine. He's a strong little boy."

I nodded in agreement. I guess that was true. I looked over at Randall to see him messing with the TV remote. For some reason he's always messing with it. He managed to get the back off it last week. I went over and gently pulled it out of his hands before he chewed on it. I placed it on the coffee table. I went over and grabbed the blocks for him and placed it in front of him.

"Here sweetie, play with this instead."

He looked at the blocks I had placed in front of him then back to where I had sat the remote. I straightened his red sweater as he stuck a small fist in his mouth and sucked on it. I smiled as he looked at me. He was finally starting to look a little healthier. Thank goodness. I smiled at him. I stroke his fronds.

"There we go. Aren't you just adorable?"

He tilted his head at me. I smiled then turn my attention to Emilia.

"Christmas is coming up. What are we going to do? We haven't had a chance to tell the family, let alone them know that we adopted a child."

"They haven't made it easy. Since everyone is usually so busy. But at least they're coming over here for Christmas, we can introduce him to them, then."

I nodded. Christmas was two weeks away. Our house currently decorated for it. The silver and gold garland hung on the shelves. Since we didn't have a fireplace our Christmas stockings hung on one of the selves. Our tree was hung in the corner of the room next to the supply closet. Tinsel, ornaments, and an antique Christmas angel hung on the tree, with the angel perched on top. All sorts of presents laid beneath, at least 60 or so due to the family coming over. I went over and repositioned our Christmas decorated pillows. A wreath hung on the inside and the outside of the front door. A few white and red candles sat on the self along with several figurines of reindeer and Santa Claws.

"Do you think we should take Randy out to see the Christmas parade tonight?" Emilia asked.

I looked at her.

"Tonight? He just got out of the hospital! And it's so cold!"

"I think something like this would be good for him. We could dress him in another sweater or two, put on his snowsuit, his jacket, winter socks and boots, along with his stocking hat and gloves. He'll be fine. Come on, he deserves this. And we can take him to see Santa Claws. It's not tradition without him seeing Santa."

I sighed. I looked over at Randall. He had gotten the remote again and was trying to take it apart. What was with that little boy? He'd rather play with the appliances than with the toys we got him. I went over and took the remote out of his hands once again, putting the batteries back in. He whined as he held his hands out, trying to grab it. I sat it on the coffee table and picked him up. I held him in my arms as I looked at Emilia.

"Are you sure we should do it?"

"Of course! The parade starts in an hour, let's take him. He'll love it."

I sighed. She had a point. Maybe seeing the joys of Christmas and what it had to offer would be good for him. And at least he should know what the world had to offer at this joyous holiday. I nodded in agreement.

"Alright. I'll get him dressed, you warm the car up."

She nodded. After getting Randall dressed and driving him to the parade, we finally arrived at the parade. It hadn't started yet. We decided to be near where the beginning of the parade was so we wouldn't have to be there for long. Randall would freeze if we stayed too long. I didn't want him to get sick after he just got done with surgery.

"Is this exciting Randy?" Emilia asked our little boy, who she was currently holding. "This is your first Christmas parade! You'll get to see Santa Claws! And elves and reindeer!"

I had let Emilia hold him, due to her having fur, and at least it would keep him warm. I chuckled as she continued. She sure did love holidays. Christmas was her favorite. And I couldn't blame her. Christmas was a magical time. After some time the parade started.

"Look Randy, there's Frostbite the Snowmon!" Emilia exclaimed excitedly.

I watched with interest as Emilia continued on the different floats and explaining them to our tiny tot. He watched the parade with wide eyes, taking in all the floats, light and monsters. I had my doubts at first, but this was doing some good. Randall was enjoying himself, and getting out of the house is probably good for him.

After the parade was over we took him to the park to go see Santa Claws. The park was dressed up to look like Santa's workshop. It was a cute picture. As we pulled up, we saw a small line. I frowned worriedly. Oh boy… this was going to take some time.

"Maybe we should come back some other time…" I told her.

"Nonsense. It's only ten kids. We'll be up there in no time! Besides when we do come back, Christmas would already be here! Now stop your worrying. Do you got the camera?"

I held it up. She grinned.

"Excellent! Let's go!"

Several minutes of waiting (more like hours to me), we finally made our way to the cabin that was Santa's workshop. As we went in, we saw a monster dressed in a red and white fur suit, and a fake white beard strapped around his mouth and chin, his nose horn above it.

"Who do we have here?" he asked as he lifted his hands up to take Randall.

"This is our son Randall, this is first time meeting Santa." Emilia told him.

He looked at little shock at seeing us, learning that we were a couple, but we were used to it. He slowly nodded and looked at Randall.

"So, what would he like for Christmas?"

"I think a Simon Says would be nice." I told him, remember how electronics seem to fascinate Randall.

"As young as he is?"

"He's a smart boy." Emilia told him.

He shrugged.

"Alright."

"Can we get a picture?" I asked, holding the camera up.

"Of course."

"Randy, smile for mommy." I said positioning the camera to take a picture.

The moment he looked at Santa, he started crying. Mostly due to the first moment he handed him to him, he was currently playing with the beard and not paying attention to the monster that was currently holding him. I snapped the picture, grabbing it has it slide out of the slot and fanned it.

"Thank you so much." Emilia told him as she grabbed Randall.

We walked out and back into the car.

"Well that could've gone better." I muttered.

"Oh it's natural for toddlers like Randall to be afraid of Santa. He'll get over it when he's older."

"I guess so. Now let's get him home and put to bed, it's pass his bedtime."

"Alright."

I looked back at Randall. At least there was a plus side to all of this. He gets to witness what the Christmas season had to offer.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It was finally Christmas Eve and the entire family had arrive at our house. Christmas with us Boggs was a big celebration. We mostly keep it here in Monstropolis, preferably at our house or at my many great-grandfather's Riley Boggs, or as everyone called him Papouli. Emilia and I had laid down Randall down for a nap before the party started. Emilia suggested that we have a little "fun" introducing him to the family. I have no idea what she meant, until she showed me the wrapped up box.

"Emilia!" I scolded. "We can't put him in a box! He'll suffocate!"

"There's air holes. So he'll be fine. He won't be in it for long, just down the stairs. He'll be fine."

I shook my head. The things this woman does. I went down to check on the family and to make sure the main troublemaking family members were in line. Looking around, I saw the kids running around, adults talking and teenagers watching a movie. Rhoul was videotaping the event. Why he had to shove that camera in everyone's face I'll never know. I went into the kitchen to check on the food, and make sure that the kids were sneaking desserts before the big dinner.

"Peter! Skeeter!" I scolded the twin boys, shooing them away from the cookies. "You'll have to wait till after dinner."

"Aw… just one cookie Auntie Cheryal?" Peter asked.

Peter looked similar to me, only he had a green horn on the top of his head, blue eyes and four tentacles. Skeeter was the same only he had an orange horn on the top of his head. They were six.

"Please?" Skeeter asked.

"No. You two will just have to wait. Now shoo. Go outside and build a snowmon or have a snowball fight."

I watched them leave as I shook my head. Kids. I started to go back out. I stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching everyone. It was great to see everyone.

"Hey there fireball."

I looked over to see Emilia standing next to me.

"What do you want?"

"Do you know where you're standing?"

"The entrance to the kitchen?"

"No," she chuckled.

She pointed up. I looked up to see the mistletoe dangling above us. I didn't even see it up there. Catching on to what she meant, I blushed.

"Oh, I see…"

"You know what that means. I got to kiss you."

I looked at her, as she leaned down towards me. Just a few more inches and I would be in heav-

"Aw look at my baby sister. Getting some sugar." Rhoul interrupted us, the camera on us.

We turned to glare at him. He always had to show up at the worst time and drive us to the point of insanity. Why couldn't he just leave us alone? He snickered at us.

"What?"

"Go away Rhoul. We're having a moment." Emilia told him.

I nodded in agreement.

"And I'm here to-"

"Beat it!" she snapped.

"Fine, jeez!"

We rolled our eyes as he walked away.

"Now, where exactly were we?" I asked, grabbing her chest fur and pulling her down. "Oh, I remember."

She smirked at me, and finally kissed me after being rudely interrupted. We pulled away after some time. I adjusted my glasses.

"Now that is all I call kiss." She told me, nudging me slightly.

I chuckled, seeing Papouli out of the corner of my eye, snooping through the presents. Papouli was a yellow skinned monster with an orange horn on the top of his head and a gray mustache. His horn was currently covered up by a Santa hat. He was so funny and a bit mischievous. He's always taking off traveling the world. He had just gotten back from Singaroar.

"Papouli!" My sister Lea, scolded him. "Stop snooping though the presents!"

Lea was yellow with purple spikes going from the top of her head down to her back. She had hazel eyes like me and also wore blue glasses.

"Oh come on, one present isn't going to hurt."

"Not yet." She told him. "If you start, then the kids will want to, and we are not starting that. And we don't open presents until have Christmas Dinner. It's tradition."

He crossed his arms, and his lip stuck out in a form of a pout.

"Who started that tradition?"

"You did."

I chuckled at Lea's deadpanned tone and Papouli's actions. Watching those two interact was funny.

"Oh right, can I change that now?"

Lea shook her head.

"I swear, you're as bad as the kids. You're so impatient. And no you can't. Emilia and Cheryal are hosting. You're over a thousand years old. Act your age."

"If I did I would be dead."

"He has a point." Emilia whispered to me, hiding a grin.

I nodded in agreement.

"You know what I mean." Lea frowned.

"Sorry if I like to livin' things up a bit, Lea. But I'm not going to act like I belong in a killing home."

"It's nursing home." She corrected him.

"Oh sure, nurse you to death." He pointed to himself. "Not this monster. As long as I have a fire in my soul and a spring in my step, I'm not letting people tell me how to live my life."

Lea sighed and shook her head. It was impossible to argue with him. I turned my attention to Emilia.

"I think now would be the perfect time to get our special "gift." I told Emilia.

She nodded and started going up. I moved towards the family a bit, and waved my tentacle to get their attention.

"Hello! Excuse me!"

I smiled when I noticed that I got their attention. Good. I adjusted my glasses as I started speaking.

"Thank you. Now I know we don't normally do this, but this year since me and Emilia are hosting Christmas, we're going to open gifts before dinner. You see we have a special gift for the entire family." I turned towards Rhoul, seeing that he had the camera on me. I glared at him. "And Rhoul, if you say one word about what it is I'll personally go to Monsters Inc., grab a door and throw you into the human world and let you suffer for your remaining life!"

"What makes you think I would say something."

I gave him a "I-know-you" look.

"Fine, my lips are sealed and the key is fed to a shark."

I nodded in satisfaction. I heard Emilia come down and looked towards her. She was carrying a green wrapped up box with a big red bow on top of it. The top of the box could easily come off. There was no reason for it to be wrapped up. There was also air holes in it. Thank goodness. She carefully sat the box down. The kids instantly ran over.

"What is it?" Butch asked. "Is it a fluppy?"

Butch was seven, he had three sets of tentacles with sharp claws on each tentacle with three green stripes going across his back. He had purple skin like me.

"I bet it's a kitty!" Fawn spoke up.

Fawn was six. She also had purple skin brown eyes and two sets of tentacles. She was Butch's younger sister. She had an old fashioned pilot's hat on top of her head.

"Now hold on kids." Emilia told them, stopping them from opening the box.

They looked at her.

"What's in this box is very sensitive to people. So you have to be quiet and gentle."

The kids tilted their heads at her in confusion. I chuckled at their reactions. Emilia sighed.

"It gets scared easily."

"Oh." The kids murmured in unison, finally understand.

"Who gets to open it?" Butch asked.

"We figured that since Papouli is the head of the family, he should."

Papouli went up to the box and opened it. He blinked in surprise when he looked it. Emilia and I smiled at each other.

"Well I'll be a human's uncle…"

"What?" My mom, Amanda asked.

She looked like me only she had green spikes like Lea. Papouli reached into the box and pulled out Randall. Emilia had dressed him in a baby blue Christmas sweater with a snowman on the front. He was wearing matching booties and a big red bow was wrapped around his head. I looked at Emilia, frowning at her with the idea of the bow. She smiled and shrugged, telling me that she thought it was a cute idea. I shook my head.

"It's a baby."

The family gasped. Either shocked that we finally got one, or that he was a reptile. Maybe both. Randall rubbed his eyes with his tiny hands, trying to adjust from the change in lighting. He blinked then look at Papouli.

"Hey there little guy," Papouli smiled at him.

Randall looked at him for a moment then started crying. Papouli blinked in surprise and started trying to comfort him. It failed as he started screaming. I went over and pulled him out of Papouli's arms. I shushed him gently and lightly bounced him.

"Shh, it's okay Randy. You're okay. Shh, calm down. Mommy's got you."

"A reptile?" Lea asked.

"Yes, this is our son Randall." Emilia told them.

"Cheryal, honey, why didn't you tell us were pregnant? We could've helped you with him." My mom asked me.

I rolled my eyes at my mother's naiveness.

"I didn't give birth to him mom. We adopted him a few months ago."

Emilia nodded in agreement.

"Shh, it's okay baby." I cooed at Randall, still trying to calm him down.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Lea asked.

"Well with our work schedules, getting little Randy situated and with his weak health, we got so busy we didn't have the time." Emilia answered.

"Weak health?" Papouli asked.

"He doesn't have a strong immune system. He was hatched prematurely. Three months before his due date." I answered, looking at Emilia for help to calm him down.

She nodded and went into the kitchen. She came back a short time later with a bottle of baby formula. She handed it to me. I shook it up and bit and tried to get him to drink. As usual he resisted but he did end up start drinking it.

"Now, let's go eat. We all deserve to celebrate this wonderful Christmas and our newest addition." Emilia told them, moving them to the kitchen to start collecting their food. I watched them go.

"You think this was a good idea?" I asked, not liking the mixed message we received.

"They'll get over. Let's eat. I know for one thing. I'm starving."

I chuckled at her.

"Okay. I'll be in there in a minute. Let me finish feeding Randy."

She nodded, placing a kiss on my cheek and one on Randall's forehead. I watched her go. Well this was one way to introduce our special gift to the family.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The dinner was…eventful, to say the least. Of course with my family, that was an understatement. Papouli seemed to have taken a shine to Randall as he tried to play our special little lizard. Even though it was a very poor attempt, but it was quite entertaining to say the least. We had set Randy in his yellow and green plaided highchair as everyone else ate. Since Emilia had feed him before we started to eat, there was no point in feeding him more when his little body couldn't handle it. I looked over my family. Some were chatting away, the others were eating and some the children (which included my stupid brother Rhoul) playing with their food by tossing some at other family members. I glared at Rhoul when he shot a spoonful of moldy peas at me.

"Knock it off Rhoul! You're a grown man! Act like it!"

"Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional!~" he sung at me, a large grin on his face.

I glared at him. I muttered to myself about how stupid and childish he was and if there was a way that I could possibly sell him to a circus. I highly doubt the circus would want a slacker like him. They could force him to clean elephant poop. Now that would be a delight to see. I pinched the skin between my eyes, raising my glasses a bit. Glob he was such a pain. I was definitely going to need some aspirin for the headache I was getting. Being around my family was enough to give me a headache. And Rhoul being a leech most of the time didn't help. I looked over at Emilia. She looked over at me and nudged her head towards Rhoul, then raised a hand and pounded her fist into her other a hand, a smirk on her features. I shook my head, knowing that she wanted to do some harm to Rhoul. While Emilia wasn't prone to violence like I was, she seemed to have made and exception for him. Oh he deserved it 98% of the time. But I knew at the time that now was not the place for it. She frowned but nodded in agreement, as much as she disliked it.

"So how old is uh…what was his name again?" My other brother, Darwin asked.

I looked over at him. Darwin had purple skin like me. Only he had two orange horns on the side of his head, another set of tentacles and he had blue eyes. I cast a quick glance over at Randy. He was spreading sour grape jelly on his highchair tray. He also covered in jelly too. How did he get jelly? Well, one thing that's for sure, he's going to need a bath after we're done eating. I turned my attention back to Darwin.

"His name is Randall, but we call him Randy. And he's two. He'll be three in March."

"Ah. And you… adopted a reptile? Don't they like keeping to themselves? I don't think I know any other reptilians that have been ones to give their children up."

"Well they didn't give him up, he was taken out of their custody because they were unfit parents. But I don't wish to speak about his parents. He's our son. Not theirs."

Darwin nodded. I wanted to make the point that his biological parents were not his family. We are. And I'm pretty sure that my tone and words made it clear to him. I didn't want anyone to think that he was associated to…them. No, my Randy as far as anyone can see was like us. He wasn't a VonFang, he was a Boggs. Plain and simple.

"Yea but he's… you know, a reptile."

I sent a glare over at my Uncle Herb. He was an orange monster with green spikes going down his back and two green horns on the side of his head. He shrinked back seeing the anger that was over my face. No one, not even my own family was going to undermine my child just because of his species! I slammed my tentacles on the table, ignoring how my cup of soda tipped over and got all over my tentacles. I pointed a tentacle at him.

"Just because he's a reptile, doesn't mean anything! He's our family! Do you understand? We adopted him! We love him! And just because you don't approve means nothing! He's our baby! Our child! And if anyone has a problem with it, then just try to take it up with me because then I'll show you a side of me that no one in this family has seen before!"

I glared at my family. A thick air of shocked silence was now at the table. It was no secret that I had a horrid temper. It wasn't the first time that I rendered the table in silence. Nor was it going to be the last. But I wasn't going to allow anyone to insult my child just because he was a reptile! He was my baby and no one was going to hurt him! Physically, mentally, any other abuse that he already had suffered! And he wasn't going to get it from the rest of the family as long as I was around!

"You will treat my child with respect. His is family and you will treat him as such! Do you understand?"

I narrowed at my family at their silence. Slowly they either nodded or voiced nervously that they understood. I nodded in confirmation, sitting back down. I looked over at Randy to see that Papouli was trying to calm down. I frowned in concern and scooped him up. I didn't realize that my anger was so intense that I didn't him crying.

"Oh my poor baby, shh, it's okay. Calm down. It's okay. Calm down."

I paid no mind to the jelly that was getting on me. I looked over at Emilia. She nodded. I noticed that she was cleaning up the soda that I had spilled in my fit of anger.

"You go ahead and give him a bath and put him to bed. It is getting kind of late for him."

I nodded and walked out of the room. I knew I was going to face a lecture from her for losing my temper again, or she might congratulate me for standing up for our child. Either way, she was going to speak to me once she got me alone. And at this point, I could really care less. We Boggs maybe very family oriented, but that didn't mean they didn't drive me to the point of madness. But if they were going to insult my baby and make him feel like he doesn't belong in this family, then I'm going to make sure that he doesn't get his feelings hurt from them.

I started up the water in the sink in our private bathroom. I couldn't put him in the bath because it was too deep for him. For some reason he seemed to have a terrible fear of water. I don't know why, but I knew that it had to be something the VonFangs did. I made sure that the water wasn't too hot or too cold. I didn't want him to get sick again so soon. Once I was sure the water was the perfect temperature for him, I gently sat him in the sink. As usual when we give him a bath, he started screaming. I shushed him gently as I took a rag and lathered soap on it, rubbing it all over him to get him clean. It was the same thing every time. I highly doubted this was going to end for a very long time. Once he was all clean, I wrapped a soft bath towel around him.

I went into his room. Grabbing a diaper off the changing table, I finished drying him off and got him dressed in a pair of fresh pajamas. The pajamas were a light green and white stripped. My personal favorite was the blue one with the lamp on the chest, but those were dirty. I smiled softly as I placed a pacifier in his mouth. I went over to the rocking chair and sat down, the soothing rhythmic swaying of the chair calming both of us down. I don't know what it is, but rocking chairs are always so relaxing. I rubbed his stomach gently to calm him down a bit more. After some time he was finally asleep. I smiled as I laid him down in his crib. I gently kissed his forehead as I covered him up.

"Sleep tight Randy. You had a very excitable day, didn't you?"

I turned on the baby monitor and walked out, quietly closing the door. Once the door was shut, I gave an aggravated sigh as I pinched the skin between my eyes. Just a few more hours Cheryal. Just got to open presents then everyone goes home. You can do this. Taking a final breath, I made myself down the stairs. Once I close to the end of the stairs, I already saw that they were opening gifts. I looked over at Emilia with a raised eyebrow. She smiled sheepishly at me and instantly came over.

"I know, I should've waited for you. But I knew they were getting on your nerves with Randy and I figured the faster we got the gifts out of the way, the faster everyone would go home."

A wry smile came across my lips. I don't know how she does it, but she always knew what I was thinking and what I needed even when I didn't know it myself. What I would do without her, I wouldn't know.

"Thank you. The stress from them alone is practically smothering me."

"Well we just have to open our gifts, then everyone will go home. So, you interested to see what you got?"

I nodded. I couldn't say that this Christmas wasn't interesting. We introduced our new child to our family, as usual my brothers were pains in my arse, the children played and caused terror, and the older folks talked about the old days when they had Christmas when they were children, so basically a standard Christmas, and this time the tree didn't catch fire! Don't ask me how but for some reason our Christmas always ended with the tree catching fire. And it somehow came to be expected every Christmas. So other than my family making me lose my temper, it was wonderful. And I knew that Randy would get used to the family as time went on. Our first Christmas with him and it had been perfect.


End file.
